Amalgamator.



mzes e6 1 PATENTED MAY26, 1909. W. 0. BOURDBTTE.

AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1907.

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PATENTED MAY 26, 1908.

W. G. BOURDETTE.

AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1907.

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25 Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation.

45 will hereinafter appear.

50 delivered.

UTTE STATE% PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIS O. BOURDETTE, OF GUNNISON, COLORADO.

AMALGAMATOR.

Application filed May 8, 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Serial No. 372,502.

State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Amalgamators, of which the following is a specification.

This mvention relates to amalgamators,

and the object of the invention is to provide an effective apparatus of this character which can be employed for recovering a large amount of mineral values from pulp passing through said apparatus.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification I have shown in detail one effective form of embodiment of the invention which, to enable those skilled in the art to practice the same, will be fully set forth in the following description, while the novelty of the invention will be included in the claims succeeding said description.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of the amalgamator. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail hereinafter more fully described. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of a screen and plate forming part of the same. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a cover and cleat carried thereby.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The apparatus shown in the drawings in cludes in its make-up a receiving or amalgamating section, such as that denoted in a general way by 2, and a concentrating or settling section such as that denoted in a general way by 3.

The receiving or amalgamating section consists preferably of a box or receptacle as 4 mounted upon the framing ortrestle-work 5, and below the said box 4 is situated the concentrating or settling section, the two sections of the apparatus being connected as Within the box 4 at the front and rear thereof are substantially similar compartments as 6 and 7 into which the pulp or other material to be amalgamated and subsequently concentrated is Resting on the box 4 is a screen as 8 onto the reticulated portion of which the pulp or other material is initially directed so as to clean the material to be treated as far as possible from undesirable and coarse matter. The pulp after passing through the reticulated portion of the screen 8 or screen proper falls on to the deflecting member 9 which consists of an arched plate connected to the frame of the screen 8. The ends of the said plate 9 overhang the upper portions of the compartments 6 and 7, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. It is my custom to deliver the stream of pulp on to the central portion of the screen proper, the stream, after it passes the screen, striking the said plate 9 which divides the stream into two portions which flow down the inclined portion of the plate into the two compartments 6 and 7. The

said two compartments have, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, oppositely inclined walls which aid in directing the streams of material into the lateral outlets 10 and 11, respectively, of said compartments. Said two outlets are not opposite each other as shown in Fig. 2, by virtue of which the streams of pulp are delivered into the tank 12 substantially tangentially thereof. The material or pulp, after it passes from the two feed compartments, enters the tank 12 between the top and bottom thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the ports or outlets 10 and 11 opening into the wall of said tank 12 so as to deliver the two streams of pulp into said tank substantially tangentially thereof.

The tank 12 is approximately cylindical in shape, the bottom and body thereof being liquid-tight throughout their entire extent. The tank 12 is provided with a removable cover or top as 13 having a catch or diametrically-disposed cleat 14 the ends of which extend outward beyond the periphery of the cover or top. and which, by the turning of said top or cover on the tank, are adapted to extend under stops or catches as 15 on the side walls of the box 4, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. I prefer to place within the tank 12 mercury or quick silver the level of which is normally or about the height shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Within the tank 12 is situated a shell as 16 which may be also cylindrical and which in the present instance depends from the top of cover 13, the two parts being connected together in any desirable way. The lower edge of the shell 16 is spaced orseparated from the bottom of the tank 12 and through which space the pulp passes, the material traveling downward from the ports 10 through the quick silver and up into the shell 16. To regulate the course or length of travel of the pulp I may provide within the shell 16 at the lower end thereof a ring 17. By varying the width of the ring 17 I can vary the distance the pulp must travel in passing from the pressure to the exhaust chambers of the apparatus. The space between the shell 16 and the body of the tank 12 constitutes a pressure chamber. The space between the inner surface of the shell 16 and the cone 18 constitutes an exhaust chamber, and the quick silver resting 011 the bottom of the tank 12 acts as an air-seal between the pressure and exhaust chambers. The cone 18 surrounds the upper portion of the exhaust pipe 19 extending upward through the bottom of the tank 12 and which in the present case serves as the connection between the amalgamating and concentrating sections of the apparatus. The upper end of the pipe 19 does not extend to the top or cover 13. The cone 18 also does not extend to the top of said pipe, and its lower surface is above the level of the quick silver in the tank 12. The water and pulp which enter the upper portion of the pipe 19 and. then travel down the same create a suction in the upper part of the interior of the shell 16 for the purpose of elevating the material within said shell.

I place around the upper portion of the pipe 19 a removable annular screen as 20 W ich I prefer to make of copper and the diameter of which is of such length that all ascending pulp traveling toward the outlet portion of the pipe 19 must pass through this screen. By employing the screen I avoid all clogging of material and at the same time permit any suspended quick silver or valuable amalgamated material to come in contact with the screen which prevents the escape thereof. Such values, as they accumulate in quantity, attain sufficient weight as to drop from out of the screen or from the meshes thereof back into the mercury in the tank 12. The screen 20, which is usually amalgamated, may be supported by the upper reduced end of the cone 18. Above the said cone 18 and coiled or matlike screen 20 the discharge or exhaust pipe 19 has formed therein a plurality of perforations or ports as 21 which are situated below the upper edge of said pipe. In this way I permit the material which has then passed the amalgamating portion of the apparatus to enter the pipe without possibility of the formation of a vortex. Therefore the exhaust enters the pipe 19 below the level of the material in the shell 16, while all suspended values which may be in the shell above the screen 20 are carried to the top of the body of fluid in said shell and continue to be whirled about until they obtain sufficient weight by concentration, when they immediately sink, passing in their descent through screen 20 and finally reaching the quick silver in the bottom of the tank 12. Said section 3 consists of a suitably shaped tank or vat as 22 and a'vessel as 23 therein.

lVhile the vessel 23 may be of any desirable shape, I prefer that it be of approximately elliptical form as shown. The vessel 23 is carried by the lower end of the discharge pipe 19 within the tank 22 but is separated from the latter so as to leave a space entirely around said vessel. It might be considered that the vessel 23 has a concave-convex bottom which, in the present case, is the lower half thereof, and the material is discharged by the pipe 19 on to the concaved side of this bottom, which latter has a substantially central discharge port 24. The concavity of said bottom and the disposition of the port 24 cause the material to take a circular 'course, while in the interior of said vessel 23, so that there is no possibility of creating a vortex within said vessel. All suspended values therefore in the vessel are thrown toward the center thereof by the continuous circular motion to which I have referred, they being finally concentrated and passing in globular form through the port 25 onto the bottom of the tank or vat 22 from which they can be drawn off from time to time by way of the faucet 26. Owing to the substantially elliptical shape of the vessel 23 there is no possibility of pulp or other matter accumulating either below or above the same, by reason of which the discharge of the refuse matter through a suitable port in. the top of the tank or vat 22 is in nowise affected. Owing to the convexed under surface of the vessel 23 it will be obvious that the space between said surface and the bottom of the vessel 23 is oppositely of progressively increasing area commencing with the point at which the port 24 is situated, by means of which I attain the advantage to which I have referred.

I extend through the bottom portion of the tank 12 a pipe 27 from the outer end of which rises a gage glass 28 incased in the housing 30, which latter may be of metal or glass, or may be metal provided with a glassprotectcd sight opening. I deem it necessary, in speaking of the material of which the said housing 30 is composed, to indicate that the materials of which the various parts may be constructed is not essential, for instance, the boxing 4, tank 12, shell 16, and parts 22 and 23 may be of wood or metal or a compo sition of these materials, while the pipe 19 would be of metal. At the junction of the gage glass 28 and the pipe 27 is a three-way valve 31 which may be operated to secure three relations. mal one or that indicated in Fig. 4, wherein the gage or feed glass 28 is put into communication with the interior of the tank 12 for the purpose of securing the supply of quick silver to said tank or for determining how The first relation is the normuch quick silver there is in said tank. The valve may be operated to drain the tube or glass 28 or it may bealso operated to withdraw the quick silver or amalgamated material from the tank 12.

In operation the machine is placed in the line of a tailing sluice of a mill. prefer to pass clear water through the apparatus until it llows through the top of the tank or vat 22, which top has a discharge port 32 for the escape of such water and also for the escape of the waste material. The quick silver is placed in the apparatus before the water is turned thereinto. The water is shut off and the apparatus is ready for use. The pulp falls on to the reticulated portion of the screen 8 where it divides as reviously set forth and passes into the feed chambers or compartments 6 througl'i the ports 10 and downwardly through the vessel 12. The pulp then passes through the quick silver, then upwardly through the same, the mineral values being practically all amalgamated with the quick silver during the passage of the pulp therethrough. The mass then rises and passes through the screen 20 into th pipe 19 along which it descends into the interior of the cone 20 where the concentrates are precipitated on to the bottom of the tank or vat 22, the waste rising through the said tank or vat 22 and passing from out the same by way of the port W hen. the weight of the mass around the shell 16, in the tank 12 above the quick silver in the latter exceeds that of the quick silver, such mass is forced through the quick silver by ydrostatic pressure.

The material in'passing through the apparatus is always in motion; is under pressure, and the movement is nearly always downward. The construction is such that no vortex can be created at any point.

From what has been stated it will be evi dent that the invention does not reside in the construction of any of the parts from any particular material; in like manner the shapes of the various parts may be widely varied, for my invention does not concern any particular shape of any particular part.

VVh at I claim is:

1. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank and adapted to dip into the mercury therein, means for delivering pulp under pressure into the tank, exterior of the shell and above the level of the mercury, a pipe extending up into the shell for receiving waste matters, said waste matters being delivered into said pipe by the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp, and means in the shell, surrounding the pipe for catching suspended values in the shell and to prevent entrance thereof into said pipe.

2. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell.

Initially I suspended in said tank, a receptacle having feed compartments communicating with the tank between the top and bottom thereof and exterior-1y of the shell, a screen for receiving a stream of pulp, means below the screen for dividing the stream into two portions for delivery into said compartments, and a pipe extending through the bottom of the tank up into said shell and having a port for the reception of waste matter above the level of the mercury.

3. An apparatus of the class described having a mereury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank, a receptacle having feed compartments communicating with the tank between the top and bottom thereof and exteriorly of the shell, a screen for receiving a stream of pulp, means below the screen for dividing the stream into two portions for de livery into said compartn'ients, a pipe eX- tending through the bottom of the tank up into said shell and having a port for the reception of waste matter above the level of the mercury, and a screen surrounding the pipe, in said shell, and below said port.

l. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank, means for delivering pulp into the tank exteriorly of the shell and above the level of the mercury, a pipe eX- tending up through the bottom of said tank and having a port for receiving waste matter above the level of the mercury and the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp serving to cause the entrance of said waste matter into said pipe, and a member provided with a chamber to receive the Waste matter from said pipe, the bottom of said chamber being concaved and having a central outlet, said pine being adapted to deliver the waste mat ter against the side of said concaved bottom.

5. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank, means for delivering pulp into the tank exteriorly of the shell and above the level of the mercury, a pipe extending up into said shell for receiving the waste matter above the level of the mercury and the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp serving to cause the entrance of said waste matter into said pipe, and concentrating means connected with said pipe the latter being adapted to deliver the waste matters received thereby to said concentrating means for treatment.

6. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank the lower end of which is adapted to dip in the mercury in said tank, means for delivering pulp into the tank eXteriorly of the shell and above the level of the mercury for passage through the mercury up into the shell, a pipe within the shell for collecting waste above the upper surface of the mercury and for conducting 4 BEST CQPY 889,099

the same from the shell and the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp serving to force saidwaste into said pipe, and a member connected with said conveying means and having. a chamber the bottom of which is concaved, the conveying means being adapted to deliver the waste at one side of the concaved bottom and the latter having an outlet.

7. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank the lower end of which is adapted to dip in the mercury in said tank, means for delivering pulp into the tank eXteriorly of the shell and above the level of the mercury, the pulp being adapted to pass through the mercury upward into said shell by hydrostatic pressure, a pipe the entering end of which is adapted to receive waste matters above the upper surface of the mercury, and a screen in the shell surrounding the pipe below the entering end thereof.

8. An apparatus of the class described having amalgamating means, means for supplying pulp to said amalgamating means, a pipe for conveying the waste matter away from the amalgamating means, the waste matter being forced into said pipe by the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp in said amalgamating means, a vessel having a discharge port in its top, and a member in said vessel spaced therefrom, said member having a chamber, the bottom of which is concaved, and a top for said chamber, the pipe extending through said top for delivering said waste matter against the concaved portion of said chamber, and said concaved portion having a central outlet.

9. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank, means for deliverin pulp into the tank eXteriorly of the shell above the level of the mercury, a pipe extending up into the shell and having a port below its upper edge for receiving waste matter for entrance into said pipe, a cone surrounding the pipe, in the shell, and a screen also surrounding the pipe between the cone and said port.

10. An apparatus of the class described having a mercury-containing tank, a shell suspended in said tank, means for deliverin pulp into the tank eXteriorly of the shell above the level of the mercury, a pipe extending up into the shell and having a port below its upper edge for receiving waste matter for entrance into said pi e, a cone surroundin the pipe, in the shell, a screen also surrounding the pipe between the cone and said port, and a ring fastened within the shell substantially at the lower end thereof.

11. An a paratus of the class described having ama gamating means, means for supplying pulp under hydrostatic pressure to said amalgamating means, a pipe for conveying the waste matter away from the amalgamating means, said waste matter being forced into said pipe by the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp in said amalgamating means, and a substantially elliptical vessel for receiving the discharge from said pipe.

12. An a paratus of the class described having amafgamating means, means for supplying pulp under hydrostatic pressure to said amalgamating means, a pipe for conveying the waste matter away from the amalgamating means, said waste matter being forced into said pipe by the hydrostatic pressure of the pulp in said amalgamating means, a tank, and a substantially elliptical vessel in said tank having an approximately central outlet in its bottom, said vessel being sup orted by and receiving the waste matter rom said pipe.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIS C. BOURDETTE. Witnesses: HERMAN M. VVEBsTER, JOHN M. ALLEN. 

